MN Sup Court..BB gun not firearm

[crbutler]

This is the whole problem with the law. No common sense.

If you are a felon with a BB gun and want to use it to stick up a bank, sorry, it's a weapon and you get to go up the river for life.

If you had a prior domestic and you got a BB gun to keep rabbits out of the garden, it's not.

They get too into writing it in black and white, and not enough in the situation. Unfortunately, there are too many lawyers out there who are good at making a jury think that the guy is a "good boy turning his life around" and making some bleeding heart give him yet another chance because the law is too scary.

[bstrawse]

So, when the MN Supreme Court says that BB guns are not Firearms, is it still possible that local municipalities could ignore or override that opinion. It would seem to me that the State decision would supersede Local law.

I got a definite no when I called about the .22 blank fired launcher. I'll check on a pneumatic equivalent. Although, I don't see any readily available for purchase.

The court wasn't being asked to evaluate local law, the question before the court was the definition of a firearm as applies to MN statute.

Given my understanding of MN law, I think a local municipality could define a BB Gun as a firearm for the purposes of the very limited amount of regulation they are allowed to do in regards to firearms.

But I'm not a lawyer.